Modified mesh-connected computers for image processing applications

Abstract

The paper proposes a new architecture, which has the potential to support low-level image processing as well as intermediate and high-level vision analysis efficiently. The integrated architecture consists of a mesh of processors enhanced with an efficient recursive network. Low-level image processing is performed on the mesh processor, while intermediate and high-level vision analysis is performed on the recursive network. The interaction between the two levels is supported by parallel data and control paths. To illustrate the power of such a two-level system, we present efficient parallel algorithms for a variety of problems from low-level image processing to high-level vision. Representative applications include image component labeling convexity problems, and histogram-type operations. Through time complexity analysis, we show that the integrated architecture meets the requirements of many image understanding tasks.<>